A proposed energy project southwest of Maricopa is moving through Pinal County's land-use process under four connected case numbers. The filings cover about 159.2 acres in unincorporated Pinal County, roughly half a mile west of the intersection of West Fulcar Road and North Table Top Road, according to the County's Sept. 17 Planning and Zoning agenda.
The applicant is Horseshoe BESS LLC, represented by Tetra Tech, and the listed landowner is Desert Leasing LLC. County records say the requested changes would allow a natural-gas plant, battery energy storage system, site substations and related support infrastructure. Those words describe the application. They do not establish that the project has been approved, permitted for construction or scheduled to open.
The location is described by Pinal County as southwest of both the City of Maricopa and the Ak-Chin Indian Community. Because the parcels sit in an unincorporated area, this is a Pinal County case rather than a City of Maricopa Planning and Zoning matter. Residents can use OurMaricopa's local government and public-services directory to distinguish City and County agencies when following notices.
Why there are four case numbers
The applications work together, but each asks the County to change a different layer of the site's land-use rules:
PZ-PD-004-26 would remove the acreage from the existing Hidden Valley Estates Planned Area Development.
PZ-PA-004-26 would change the comprehensive-plan designation from Moderate Low Density Residential, described in the agenda as 1 to 3.5 homes per acre, to Employment.
PZ-004-26 would rezone the land from CR-3 Single Residence to I-3 Industrial.
PZ-PD-005-26 would place a new Planned Area Development overlay on the same acreage to apply project-specific development standards.
That sequence matters. A comprehensive-plan amendment changes the County's long-range land-use direction. A rezone changes the regulatory district. A planned-area-development overlay supplies standards for a particular proposal. Reading only one case could make the project appear narrower than the full package.
The applicant's project StoryMap describes a plan for up to 500 megawatts of battery storage and 500 megawatts of natural-gas peaking generation, with a connection to the nearby Pinal West substation. Those capacity figures come from the applicant's presentation, not a County finding or construction authorization. They should remain attributed if used.
What the record says — and does not say
All four cases were labeled public hearing/action on the Sept. 17 Planning and Zoning agenda. When OurMaricopa checked the individual County agenda records early Monday, Sept. 21, the MOTION field on each page was blank. The County's public hearing page also warns that cases can be changed, withdrawn or continued up to the hearing date.
That means the available official web record establishes the requests and the hearing date, but it did not yet establish what the commission recommended. A competitor headline or secondhand account is not being used to fill that gap.
Pinal County describes its Planning and Zoning Commission as a recommending body. It can recommend approval or denial, or continue a matter for more information. If the commission makes a recommendation, the County's land-use process says the case goes to the next available Board of Supervisors agenda. The commission page says action minutes are normally available within three business days and full minutes within 20 business days.
For residents, the next useful record is therefore the official action minute, followed by any Board of Supervisors hearing notice. Those documents can answer the questions the applications alone cannot: what the commission recommended, what conditions were attached, whether another hearing date was set and when the Board may act.
Until that record appears, the precise description is straightforward: Horseshoe Energy has requested land-use and zoning changes for an industrial energy project southwest of Maricopa. The filing is substantial. It is not the same thing as a final approval.
Sources
Pinal County — Sept. 17 Planning and Zoning agenda items for PZ-PD-004-26, PZ-PA-004-26, PZ-004-26 and PZ-PD-005-26. Agenda system entry point. Meeting date Sept. 17, 2026; individual records accessed Sept. 19, 2026. Source for applicant, landowner, acreage, parcels, location, proposed uses and requested actions. Motion fields were blank at access time.
Pinal County — Notice of Hearings. Official hearing list. Accessed Sept. 19, 2026. Source for the Sept. 17 hearing listing and County disclaimer that cases may change, be withdrawn or be continued.
Pinal County — Planning and Zoning Commission / Land Use Change Process. Commission page and process page. Accessed Sept. 19, 2026. Source for the commission's recommending role, possible actions and later Board process.
Horseshoe BESS LLC — Horseshoe Energy Projects. Applicant StoryMap. Accessed Sept. 19, 2026. Applicant source for proposed capacity and interconnection description; not evidence of County approval.